Romans 9:15

15. For he saith to Moses--(Ex 33:19). I will have mercy on whom I will have--"on whom I have" mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have--"on whom I have" compassion--"There can be no unrighteousness in God's choosing whom He will, for to Moses He expressly claims the right to do so." Yet it is worthy of notice that this is expressed in the positive rather than the negative form: not, "I will have mercy on none but whom I will"; but, "I will have mercy on whomsoever I will."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Verse 15. For he saith to Moses. Ex 33:19.

I will have mercy. This is said by God when he declared expressly that he would make all his goodness pass before Moses, (Ex 33:19) and when, therefore, it was regarded not as a proof of stern and inexorable justice, but as the very proof of his benevolence, and the highest which he thought proper to exhibit. When men, therefore, under the influence of an unrenewed and hostile heart, charge this as an unjust and arbitrary proceeding, they are resisting and perverting that which God regards as the very demonstration of his benevolence. The sense of the passage clearly is, that he would choose the objects of his favour, and bestow his mercies as he chose. None of the human race deserved his favour; and he had a right to pardon whom he pleased, and to save men on his own terms, and according to his sovereign will and pleasure.

On whom I will have mercy. On whom I choose to bestow mercy. The mode he does not explain. But there could not be a more positive declaration of these truths,

(1.) that he does it as a sovereign, without giving an account of the reason of his choice to any.

(2.) That he does it without regard to any claim on the part of man; or that man is regarded as destitute of merit, and as having no right to his mercy.

(3.) That he will do it to any extent which he pleases, and in whatever time and manner may best accord with his own good pleasure.

(4.) That he has regard to a definite number; and that on that number he intends to bestow eternal life; and,

(5.) that no one has a right to complain. It is proof of his benevolence that any are saved; and where none have a claim, where all are justly condemned, he has a right to pardon whom he pleases. The executive of a country may select any number of criminals whom he may see fit to pardon, or in consistency with the supremacy of the laws and the welfare of the community, and none has a right to murmur; but every good citizen should rejoice that any may be pardoned with safety. So in the moral world, and under the administration of its holy Sovereign, it should be a matter of joy that any can be pardoned and saved; and not a subject of murmuring and complaint that those who shall finally deserve to die shall be consigned to woe.

(p) "I will have mercy" Ex 33:19

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Verse 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy, etc. - The words of God to Moses, Exo 33:19, show that God has a right to dispense his blessings as he pleases; for, after he had declared that he would spare the Jews of old, and continue them in the relation of his peculiar people, when they had deserved to have been cut off for their idolatry, he said: I will make all my goodness pass before thee; and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. As if he had said: I will make such a display of my perfections as shall convince you that my nature is kind and beneficent; but know, that I am a debtor to none of my creatures. My benefits and blessings are merely from my own good will: nor can any people, much less a rebellious people, challenge them as their due in justice or equity. And therefore I now spare the Jews; not because either you, who intercede for them or they themselves have any claim upon my favor, but of my own free and sovereign grace I choose to show them mercy and compassion. I will give my salvation in my own way and on my own terms. He that believeth on my Son Jesus shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned. This is God's ultimate design; this purpose he will never change; and this he has fully declared in the everlasting Gospel. This is the grand Decree of reprobation and election.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain